Once Pen had turned around, Ava stuck her tongue out. If she was going to be scolded like a small child, she might as well reply like one.
“Can you see Tabon?” she whispered, trying to be quieter.
“Yes,” answered Aine.
“And?”
“And what?”
“How does he look?”
“Like the other five men wearing tuxedos. Actually, that isn’t true. Mercer looks the best. Tabon might be the runner-up.”
The music began, and Ava looked back at Quinn, who was the picture-perfect bride. Only the death grip she had on her father’s arm gave away her nervousness. Ava smiled at her before turning back around and taking a deep breath.
If she looked at Tabon, would he be looking at her? God, this was ridiculous. He probably didn’t even remember meeting her.
She stepped forward after Penelope and Tara started their walks down the aisle, and couldn’t help herself; she had to look.
He was looking right at her, wasn’t he? Or was he looking behind her? He smiled then, and winked, his eyes not wavering as she made her way behind her two friends.
He looked good. He’d shaved the dark stubble she remembered, making his jawline look even more powerful, but his eyes hadn’t changed—they still danced when he smiled at her.
When Aine took her place next to Ava, all eyes turned to where Quinn stood with her father. Those who were seated stood when the music began.
The sunlight hit her friend’s simple, stylish gown, which was adorned with lace, making it glow. Ava peeked around Aine, wanting to see the look on Mercer’s face. As she’d expected, he was mesmerized.
When they reached the front, Kade moved Quinn’s veil from her face, leaned forward, and kissed her cheek.
The minister instructed everyone to be seated and began the ceremony. It wasn’t long like some she’d attended in New York, where it felt more like mass for five hundred than a wedding. Instead, this was a simple, sweet profession of love, consecrated by God, and witnessed by people who cared deeply about the couple.
Ava almost cried, which wouldn’t have been at all like her. Aine, the weeper of the two of them, was making good use of the handkerchief she’d remembered to hold around the stems of the flowers she carried.
The minister pronounced them husband and wife. The two kissed, and then began their walk to the recessional.
Soon, within seconds really, Ava would step forward and take Tabon’s arm as he escorted her to where the bride and groom now stood.
Her eyes met his, and he smiled, holding his arm out for her. “Avarie,” he whispered when she took it, almost making her swoon. How did he know her full name? “You look beautiful,” he added.
He felt good at her side. Strong, confident, almost commanding. There wasn’t an ounce of self-doubt in this man whose arm held hers.
She remembered Quinn saying that Mercer made her feel cared for and safe. It hadn’t been long after she’d met him, and she’d sounded so certain. Ava understood what Quinn had meant now. Just having Tabon by her side made her feel, if not cared for, definitely safe.
—:—
It wasn’t that he wanted to get away from Avarie—she was delightful—but all eyes were on him, or it felt that way. Soon, the photographer would take pictures, and when he did, there would be hard evidence of how much he wanted the “hot little number,” as Gunner had called the woman in the barely-there sea-foam-green dress.
They separated after walking back down the aisle to stand beside Mercer and Quinn: guys to the groom’s right and girls to the bride’s left. Maybe he should’ve said something to her, but there’d be plenty of time to talk later, and if he had stopped long enough to look into her baby-blue eyes, he would’ve taken her behind the tall hedges that separated one part of the garden from the other and kissed the shit out of her.
Instead, he went and stood next to the best man and willed himself to think about anything other than how Ava had felt with her arm in his.
“How ya holdin’ up, Casanova?” asked Gunner when he walked up after escorting the final bridesmaid down the aisle.
Razor stepped forward, and the two walked away from the group.
“I don’t know…she seems kind of…” Razor said when they were far enough away that no one else could hear them.
“What?”